At least that is what an agreement that Turkey and Russia negotiated
Trump tweeted that the withdrawal should be slow and coordinated with Turkey as much as possible. After the US withdrawal, Turkey is to continue the fight against the terrorist militia Islamic State.
Donald Trump is apparently planning a visit to Germany. As reported by the US ambassador, Trump would like to visit the homeland of his ancestors. This would lead him to a small village in the Palatinate.
According to US Ambassador Richard Grenell, US President Donald Trump wants to come to Germany and visit the hometown of his ancestors in Rhineland-Palatinate. "I don’t know when, but he told me he wanted to come and see his family’s hometown"said Grenell in Berlin.
Trump’s paternal grandparents came from Kallstadt an der Weinstrasse. The village with about 1,200 inhabitants is one of the most famous wine towns in the Palatinate. Trump has never been there.
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However, the US President has already visited Germany once during his almost two-year term in office: In July 2017, he took part in the G20 summit in Hamburg. However, he has never been to Germany on a purely bilateral visit. Chancellor Angela Merkel has already visited Trump twice in Washington.
Sources used: dpa news agency
Donald and Melania Trump surprised US troops in Iraq with a visit at Christmas. On the return flight, they made a stopover at the US Air Force Base Ramstein.
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US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania made a surprise visit to US troops in Iraq at Christmas. On the return flight, he and his wife made a stopover at the US Air Force Base Ramstein in Rhineland-Palatinate. The "Air Force One" landed early Thursday morning. The US president met for talks with soldiers and had photos taken of himself.
In Iraq, Trump reaffirmed his renunciation of the American self-image as a global force in order to soldiers at the Al Asad air force base in the west of the country. The United States "can no longer be the world policeman", he said.
In doing so, he again defended his plans for a full US withdrawal from Syria. The use is meanwhile "enough time" has been given, so Trump. He further said: "We no longer want to be taken advantage of by countries that use us and our incredible military to protect themselves.conclusion of to kill a mockingbird essay You don’t pay for it!" It is not fair for the United States to bear this burden alone.
Looking at the numerous U.S. military missions around the world, Trump said: "We are spread all over the world. We’re in countries that most people haven’t even heard of. To be honest, it’s ridiculous."
Trump’s first visit to combat troops abroad
With the visit to Iraq, Donald and Melania Trump wanted to meet the US soldiers on site, according to the White House "thank you for your commitment, your success and your sacrifice and wish you a Merry Christmas", said White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders on Twitter. The US President later posted a perfectly staged PR video that was accompanied by pathetic music.
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For the President, it was the first ever visit to combat troops abroad during his tenure. In the past few months, pressure had increased on Trump to take such a trip. For safety reasons, such trips are never publicly announced in advance. Details of the exact time of his arrival and the duration of his visit were initially unknown.
Has greetings from home with him: US President Donald Trump with soldiers in Iraq. (Source: Andrew Harnik / AP / dpa)
Turning point in US foreign policy
Trump’s visit comes at a time of greatest possible turbulence in the US Department of Defense. The Pentagon boss James Mattis announced his resignation a few days ago – because of fundamental differences of opinion with Trump. The president had announced shortly before that all US soldiers were to be withdrawn from Syria. He justified this step with the fact that the terrorist organization IS had been completely defeated. The decision caused an outcry both nationally and internationally. Experts do not consider the IS to be defeated and a withdrawal to be fatal.
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Trump also wants to greatly reduce the number of troops in Afghanistan – according to media reports, he wants to withdraw half of the soldiers there. This decision also met with a lot of criticism. Trump now decided to visit Iraq for troops in another crisis area.
His visit also coincides with a phase of other domestic political turbulence. Because of a bitter dispute with the opposition Democrats over the budget and border security with Mexico, government affairs in the USA have been partially at a standstill for days.
Sources used: AFP news agency, dpa
Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer proposes a risky international military operation to stabilize the situation in northern Syria. Such initiatives are hardly known from German defense ministers.
overview
Why is Kramp-Karrenbauer doing this? What exactly is it proposing? What could an international security zone look like? How would this security zone look? Would the Bundeswehr be deployed? How does the coalition partner SPD react to the proposal? What do local actors think of a security zone ? And what about the Syrian government? What role can Russia play? What do the NATO allies think of the initiative? Donald Trump is happy now? What has Kramp-Karrenbauer already achieved?
For eight years, Germany played only a minor role in efforts to end the Syrian civil war. Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer is now making a proposal that does not fit into German foreign policy so far. Germany has never initiated an international military operation itself.
This is exactly what the CDU leader is trying to do for northern Syria, where Turkish troops marched in almost two weeks ago. It is a risky maneuver, because it not only has to get an angry coalition partner on its side, but also hard-to-reach allies including Turkey and Russia.
Why is Kramp-Karrenbauer doing this?
The defense minister has already shown in the last few days that she is annoyed by a certain despondency in German foreign policy. “I can no longer hear that we are concerned,” she said on Saturday at the CSU party conference in Munich. “We are strong, it depends on us, and at some point we finally have to give our own political answers – especially as a Union.” The international protection force for Northern Syria is now your answer.
What exactly does she propose?
An “internationally controlled security zone including Turkey and Russia, with the aim of de-escalating the situation there”. The goal is to continue the fight against the terrorist militia Islamic State (IS) and to enable the voluntary return of refugees by rebuilding destroyed regions.
What could an international security zone look like?
Kramp-Karrenbauer left it open how exactly she imagines such a zone. There is a border of almost 450 kilometers between the areas previously controlled by Syrian Kurds and Turkey. Before the invasion of Syria, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had set the target that the zone should be more than 30 kilometers deep. Erdogan wants to keep Kurdish fighters, whom he considers terrorists, away from the Turkish border. Kramp-Karrenbauer now wants to turn it into an international controlled zone – instead of a Turkish occupation zone.
How would this security zone be controlled?
By an international protection force. The CDU foreign politician Roderich Kiesewetter assumes that 15,000 soldiers and 15,000 civilian helpers would be necessary to secure and supply the area. “You can’t do that out of your pocket,” he says. The military mission would be what is called a “robust mission” in technical jargon. Combat troops would also have to be dispatched to deal with fighters from the terrorist organization Islamic State (IS). Although the extremists no longer control any area in Syria, they are still active. After the Turkish invasion, IS supporters are said to have fled prisons.
Would the Bundeswehr be deployed?
It is hard to imagine that Germany would propose a military operation of this dimension and then not send soldiers. How many soldiers there could be is completely unclear. The Bundeswehr has already proven that it is capable of larger deployments with several thousand soldiers. In Afghanistan there were at times more than 5,000 soldiers stationed at different locations.
How does the coalition partner SPD react to the proposal?
Surprised to angry. Kramp-Karrenbauer only wrote a short SMS to her cabinet colleague Heiko Maas, in which she announced a proposal on Syria. She only phoned the Foreign Minister on Tuesday. The SPD politician then expressed himself skeptically and said that many questions were open. He also complained about Kramp-Karrenbauer’s communication style: “I don’t think much of SMS diplomacy. This quickly turns into SOS diplomacy. “
What do local actors think of a safety zone?
Representatives of Syrian Kurds welcomed Kramp-Karrenbauer’s move, but called for the Turkish troops to withdraw. Such a zone could give the Kurds the chance to secure the autonomous self-government they established in north and east Syria. Displaced persons who fled Turkish troops could return.
And what about the Syrian government?
No approval is to be expected from her. Ruler Bashar al-Assad generally wants to bring the whole country back under his control and insists on Syria’s sovereignty. He rejects foreign troops in the country – except those of his close allies Russia and Iran.
What role can Russia play?
Theoretically, it would be conceivable that Russia would agree to such a zone and put pressure on Assad. But then the price for the governments in the West could be high – Moscow and Damascus could, for example, demand that the EU states resume their diplomatic contacts with the Syrian government and take part in Syria’s billion-dollar reconstruction, which they have so far refused as long as there is no real one political transition in the country there.
What do the NATO allies think of the initiative?
Initially there were no reactions from NATO or the EU – not even from NATO partner Turkey. At least not officially. In the Foreign Office, however, a few astonished allies came forward with questions about the proposal. “There is also, and it is undeniable, a certain irritation among our partners,” said Maas. On Thursday and Friday, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer wants to present her initiative at a NATO defense ministerial meeting in Brussels.
Is Donald Trump happy now?
He should follow Kramp-Karrenbauer’s maneuver with a certain satisfaction. The US president accuses Germany of insufficient military engagement since taking office. In July he sent his representative for the anti-IS mission, James Jeffrey, to Germany to demand German ground troops to replace soldiers in Syria. Chancellor Angela Merkel had clearly said no at the time.
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What has Kramp-Karrenbauer already achieved?
The German role in Syria has probably never been discussed as intensely as it is now. And not only that. The discussion is also about how actively and by what means Germany wants to participate in conflict resolution. For Kiesewetter, Kramp-Karrenbauer’s advance is already of far-reaching importance. “I consider this a paradigm shift – in a positive sense.”
Sources used: dpa news agency
For a long time it looked like the Kurdish militia YPG would be one of the winners of the Syrian civil war. But left in the lurch by the US, it could now lose its entire territory.
In order to understand the hopeless situation of the Syrian Kurds, a glance at Geneva is enough: The Syrian constitutional committee will begin its work there on Wednesday, which is supposed to pave the way to a political solution for the civil war country. A representative of the Kurdish PYD party, the political arm of the YPG militia, will not be at the table. The most influential political force of the Kurds in northern Syria will not be included in the date.
In the almost nine years of the civil war, the Kurds have experienced many ups and downs. The past few weeks in particular have been among the most difficult for them in the conflict. They lack a strong partner on the international stage. Its previous allies, the USA, the YPG have abandoned their Syrian allies in the fight against the Turkish army. Now the Kurdish forces are also in a losing position militarily.
The YPG is to leave a 30-kilometer-deep strip on the border with Turkey by Tuesday – and thus surrender without a fight an important area that it had occupied during the war. At least that is what an agreement that Turkey and Russia negotiated.
The Kurds managed to drive ISIS out
For a long time it looked as if the Kurds might be among the winners of this bloody conflict.
